Isaiah 1-16
Introduction
Isaiah is one of the major prophetic books, and many consider it a “mini-Bible” of its own. Though chapter/verse markings were not part of the early copies, it happens that the 1st 39 chapters are more about judgment just as the Old Testament’s 39 books are, while the last 27 chapters are more about consolation just as the New Testament’s 27 books are. Isaiah literally means, “The Lord is Salvation”, which summarizes the book. Isaiah’s focus was on Jerusalem and Judah, and his message was that they would be overrun by Gentiles for their sins. But though God’s judgment had to be harsh, he would never abandon the people of Israel forever. He deals with Israel as a nation, not necessarily as individuals, and the prophecies are not necessarily in chronological order. Please refer to these resources as well: this commentary, the NETS Bible, and this LXX Interlinear.
Isaiah 1
Judah had forgotten God, in spite of all he had done for them. After a long description of their pathetic condition, the only reason they weren’t yet destroyed was because God prevented it in the hope they might come to their senses. It had sunk to the point where God was repulsed by their sacrifices and festivals. He kept pleading with them to clean themselves up and stop all the sinning, and in verse 18 he offers to sit down and discuss the matter rationally. The offer of washing away sins is the very thing the Messiah would come to do, but the people still had to choose their path. Then the text turns back to describing their miserable condition after having begun so well, which is the essence of what Jesus told the church at Ephesus in Rev. 2:1-5. But then God promises to clean them up and punish their enemies.
Isaiah 2
Ch. 2 is a prophetic message from God, and the descriptions all have to do with an earthly kingdom, which is as literal and physical as the pathetic kingdom that was just described. It includes the familiar phrase about beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, which refers to the future Millennial kingdom since no such thing has happened yet. But it can’t refer to eternity, since it includes the settling of disputes between nations.
It goes on to describe the prosperous enemies of Israe, and promises their downfall in the day of judgment. But notice the part about them hiding in caves and holes in the ground. This is quoted in Rev. 6:15-17, so we know that Revelation is set during that future day of judgment— rather than gradually played out over centuries, as the Historicist prophecy theory asserts. There’s an interesting perspective in the commentary about the worthlessness of gold and idols, as symbolized in the plot of Lord of the Rings; the “precious” golden ring turned decent people into monsters, so it had to be given up and destroyed.
Isaiah 3
Ch. 3 begins by showing that dependence on people never lasts. It also says that putting the young or incompetent in charge of a nation is a judgment from God— as is putting new believers in positions of spiritual leadership in the Christian community. As 3:5 puts it, youths will defy the elderly, and the riffraff will show contempt for respectable people. Those who have lived long enough to remember the mistakes of the past are brushed aside as senile or regressive, so the same mistakes are repeated. People tend to choose as leaders in either secular or spiritual realms those who promise them what they want, instead of what they need.
3:9 goes on to describe the proud look of degenerates, yet promises reward to the innocent. But we see in verse 12 a statement most translations render disingenously as “Youths oppress my people, women rule over them.” It should read, as it does in the NET translation and the LXX, “Oppressors treat my people cruelly; creditors rule over them” (see Lesson 621, p. 222-223). Most commentaries get this completely wrong, as do those who use the bad translation to declare that women must never rule a nation. Rather, the judgment is that people have allowed themselves to go into debt, and as the Proverbs stated, “the borrower is slave to the lender.”
3:14-15 continues the theme of greed and oppression, and it sounds a lot like when Jesus rebuked the Pharisees in Mat. 21:33-45 and 23:4. 3:16 is the part that actually does talk about women, who like the proud men mentioned earlier, will be paid back for their sins. Then the focus returns to men primarily, and contnues through the next chapter.
Isaiah 4-5
Now the text turns to the future time when the Messiah will clean and purge Israel, leaving only a remnant. Ch. 5 seems to be an abrupt change of topic and style, but it’s really a scathing denunciation of what Israel had done to the blessings God had provided.
5:8 goes on to describe the judgments to come, but the people bury their heads in the sand and keep on partying, as if this will fend off the judgments. Such denial is rampant in the world today, even in the Christian community. Any who raise warnings are shouted down as being too negative and are blamed for preventing the good times from continuing. Christians especially should be the voice of alarm in these deceptive times.
Then in verse 20 comes the familiar judgment about those who reverse the meanings of good and evil, and following that is a list of other vices: being skilled at drinking, condemning the innocent and acquitting the guilty, and ultimately rejecting their Creator. This brings judgment, which comes not only through natural disasters but also other nations against Israel.
Isaiah 6
This chapter marks a major shift in the book, which leads commentators to conclude that the first 5 chapters are more of an introduction or overview. Isaiah is being shown a vision of God on his throne, surrounded by a class of angelic beings known as seraphs. The word seems to mean beings of fire, but it only appears here in the whole Bible. Some commentators argue that these also were serpentine in form, but remember that fallen angels wouldn’t necessarily have changed form, such that we can’t equate the form with evil in all cases in scripture. But by description, they aren’t what we’d describe as serpents, and they hold the same place around God’s throne as the four living creatures in Rev. 4:6-8.
Isaiah is terrified at the sight of all this, but one of the seraphs makes a kind of temporary atonement so he can be in God’s presence. We see a very familiar phrase in verse 8: God asks who will go out on his behalf, and Isaiah’s response is, “Here I am, send me!” Too often we’re afraid to respond this way because of what God might put us through, but we must not be afraid.
The task was for Isaiah to give Israel another familiar message, one that’s quoted in John 12:38-41. So we know from that reference that Isaiah saw Jesus in his former glory, which he would put aside during his incarnation as explained in Phil. 2:5-11. But the blinding and deafening of Israel is not to end until the judgment is complete. So this is an instance where the prophecy long predated the fulfillment, and the people of Israel remain in unbelief to this day. Yet even a tree cut down to the roots can still revive with a tiny shoot, and so it will be with the nation of Israel.
Isaiah 7
This chapter begins a long section through ch. 12 focused on Assyria and the poor decisions made by King Ahaz during that time. Isaiah was to tell Ahaz not to fear the army coming against him, but to trust God instead.
God even has Ahaz ask for a sign that God would really protect his people, but Ahaz refuses. So God gives the sign in verse 14, and it’s the core of the message of salvation for all: A woman would conceive and give birth to a son. Pay attention to two levels of prophecy here, and also take a look at this article regarding the proper meaning of the word translated woman.
The Hebrew word is alma, which some claim means young woman rather than virgin. But remember that this is the Masoretic text, which went out of its way to obscure Messianic prophecies. The Greek word here is parthenos which means any male or female virgin who is old enough to be married. It’s the Greek that Mat. 1:23 quotes here, and that context clearly indicates Mary’s virginity. This concept will be a thread running through the coming chapters. But on the other hand, an ambiguous term might better fit the dual prophecy.
Of course, no virgin birth happened in this immediate context, so now we see the other layer of the prophecy: that before the child to be born to “this woman” is old enough to know right from wrong, something will happen. This is where we get the concept of “age of accountability”, which means that before this age, which may vary from one child to the next, a child is innocent and not charged with sin against God. Also, the diet the child would have seems to indicate poverty.
Now what’s the “something” that will happen? There are two ways to interpret the text here: (1) that the two kings coming against Israel would be defeated, or (2) that the two kingdoms Ahaz was tearing apart (meaning Israel and Judah) would be destroyed. This seems a better fit with verse 17, which speaks of disaster to come upon Ahaz and his people.
Isaiah 8
The text continues here with the prophecy of disaster, and God repeats the reasons for it. Though the child was to be named Immanuel per 7:14, the contextual description seems to indicate that the child named in 8:1 is the one the immediate fulfillment of the prophecy was about. In both cases, it is God who names the child, in spite of the biased commentary’s claim that the woman named him Immanuel but God overrode her choice. It’s quite remarkable that a commentator of this quality would make such an obvious blunder without prejudice blinding him.
Verse 11 turns back to warnings for people to repent before disaster strikes, and verses 14-15 are quoted in passages such as Rom. 9:33 as pertaining to Jesus, the “rock that would make them stumble”. Verses 17-18 are quoted in Heb. 2:13 as also being ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.
The next warning is about enticement to seek out oracles and conjurers. The solution is to remember God’s words, which we can’t do if we’ve never read them. The last part of ch. 8 begins a very familiar passage to Christians, and it continues into ch. 9.
Isaiah 9
This is quoted in Mat. 4:15-16 as being fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah, but there will be an ultimate fulfilment in the Millennial Kingdom. And of course, verse 6 is one of the best-known Messianic verses, but pay attention to all the Son’s titles, including the Mighty God and the Everlasting Father. No clearer statement can be found in scripture that this Messiah, Jesus, is God in the flesh. As it’s put in Col. 1:15-20, the entirety of God is contained in Jesus, who is the visible appearance of the invisible God, and the maker and sustainer of all creation. He will rule on the throne of David for a thousand years, and then in the New Jerusalem for eternity.
Now notice also that this obviously future event from the time of the prophecy is written in the past tense (”has been born, given”). When a prophecy cannot be changed for any reason, the Hebrew prophets wrote them as if they had already happened. Keep this in mind when reading Revelation, and you’ll avoid some confusion and wild speculation.
9:8 through 10:4 focus on the northern kingdom of Israel, whose enemy will be God Himself because of Israel’s pride and self-reliance. The judgments would come in waves, much the way the Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls of Revelation come in sequence. The phrase in verse 20 about eating their own arm is a euphemism for turning on their own brothers and sisters— a habit often employed by Christians today as well.
Isaiah 10
Here the focus is on injustice and oppression, to the point of robbing orphans and widows, as also stated in Luke 20:47. Now that God has told Israel what to expect from Assyria, he then tells Assyria what to expect from God. As with Pharaoh, God often uses the already-hardened to punish Israel, then the punishers themselves get their judgments too. They arrogantly believed their success against Israel was by their own power and gods, so now they too need a lesson in humility.
As God goes on to explain, Assyria was but a tool in his hand, and the tool can’t boast of wielding itself. Then, finally, in verse 20, the few remaining of Israel will come to their senses and trust God instead of other nations, and then God will restore and heal them. Notice that Jacob/Israel is named; this means that the entire twelve tribes will be restored, not only two as many assert so they can invent a story of ten “lost tribes” that can be anyone from the western world to sub-Saharan Africa.
Verse 27 describes details of the punishment preceding this restoration, and though Assyria was decimated by God in 605 BC according to ch. 37, there remains an ultimate fulfillment of the Millennial Kingdom of Israel.
Isaiah 11
The Millennial Kingdom is described here as regarding a clear Messianic prophecy. The Son mentioned earlier becomes the adult wise ruler, and his kingdom even enjoys rest from deadly animals. But we have to pause at verse 6 to address a grievous false teaching that has arisen in recent years. It’s called “the Mandella Effect”, and it’s basically a superstitious belief in some dark magic that can change the past, including the words on Bibles sitting on your shelf at home. They remember the phrase “lion will lie down with the lamb”, then look at verse 6 and cite it as proof that scripture has been changed. But it’s a simple case of imperfect memory, since both lion and lamb are mentioned, just not immediately together. Yet the believers in this theory insist they have perfect memory, so it must be the scriptures that were changed. This is one of the results of Christians neglecting both rationality and Bible study, and by that I don’t mean a light devotional reading. A Christian ignorant of the Bible is ripe for deception.
The focus on the “root of Jesse” continues with the centrality of earthly Israel in the Millennium, when God will give to Israel the land formerly occupied by their enemies.
Isaiah 12-13
Israel finally praises God for delivering them. But then in ch. 13 the focus turns to the nation of Babylon. There’s a chart in the commentary of the various nations to be addressed, but this prophecy came about 100 years before Babylon had risen from a subset of Assyria to an empire of its own. Yet the prophecy itself doesn’t give a clear sequence or timeline of the events to come. This is typical of all Bible prophecy, with the exception of the clear sequence of Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls in Revelation.
Speaking of those judgments, verses 9-11 match up with Isaiah 34:4, Ezek. 32:7, Joel 2:10, 30-31, 3:15, Zech. 14:6-7, Matt. 24:29, and Rev. 8:12 regarding the cosmic disasters that will accompany God’s wrath. These are clear indictments of those who worship the sun, moon, and stars. And as in Rev. 6:8 and 9:15, the population of the world will be severely reduced. Notice also that the earth itself will be shaken from its foundations, and the description of Babylon’s grisly end is similar to what the future Babylon will do to Israel in Zechariah 14:2.
But it is God who will destroy Babylon, and when this is finally fulfilled no people will live there again, as shown in Rev. 18. So again, there is the typical “soon” and “in the distant future” fulfillment of prophecy.
Isaiah 14-16
Contrast that with how God will restore Israel as his chosen people and cause them to prosper in their land. Here again, the Christian community has no land, and appeal to allegory cannot make us Israel. But notice that as part of this resoration, Israel will taunt the king of Babylon. The wicked kings of the past stand up to wait for mighty Babylon to be brought down to their level in weakness and misery, and this is the immediate context of the controversial passage starting in verse 12.
In the midst of a description of the underworld is that of the realm of heaven, and many have taken this section as referring to Satan. The Latin Vulgate translated “shining one” as “lucifer” since that’s the Latin equivalent, rather than a proper name. But why would a human king be described in such terms? The concensus of scholars seems to be that these were terms Babylonian rulers used for themselves, claiming to be like God. So the prophecy is mocking their claims by contrasting their boasting with the fate that awaits them.
Yet at the same time, Ezekiel 28:11-19 is a prophecy against another earthly king, the King of Tyre, and the language there seems clearly about more than that king. But there is no such term as “lucifer” in that passage, and it doesn’t seem to address earthly boasting. So there are enough differences of context to consider the passage here in ch. 14 to be solely about the human king of Babylon. Though Jesus uses the term “bright morning star” for himself in Rev. 22:16, the critics’ claim that Satan is Jesus by virtue of both being described as “light” or “shining” is refuted by 2 Cor. 11:14, which says that Satan can only pretend to be an angel of light. The overall point is that while pretenders to the heavenly realm of God try to rise up to get it, the real God steps down to our level to give it.
The harsh sentence upon Babylon’s king is not wickedness, as the critics charge God, but justice, paying the wicked the wages they’ve earned. God gives life, and he has the right to take it away.
The next nation to be judged is the Philistines, arch enemies of Israel. After driving out Israel from Judea late in the 1st century a.d., the Romans named the area Palestine after the Philistines to humiliate the Jews, and that name stuck. So the original Palestinians were actually Jews and then Philistines, and they had no more right to the land of Israel than today’s so-called Palestinians, who are more genetically-related to the people of Jordan than any other ancient line. The Philistines in this context had become overconfident at the demise of their enemies, but God assures them that their turn would soon come.
Next it’s Moab’s turn, and their devastation is so harsh that Isaiah, likely also God, is moved by grief. After all, we know from Ezk. 18:23 and 2 Peter 3:9 that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But by the end of ch. 16 we see that a precise time is given for the prophecy to be fulfilled, so there will be no averting it.